A variety of products such as gowns, sheets, drapes, instruments, etc. which are required during surgery or other aseptic procedures, are used on a daily basis in the normal operation of hospitals, clinics and the like. Where such products are not pre-packaged in a sterile state, it is necessary for the hospital or clinic to sterilize them before use. Furthermore, where these products are not disposable, and are employed more than once, it is necessary that they be cleaned and otherwise prepared for subsequent use. Prior to such use, however, it is essential that such products be sterilized.
Due to the volume of materials involved, it is often necessary to sterilize and store these products for later use. Accordingly, there has been developed a procedure where such products, after cleaning, laundering and the like, are wrapped in suitable barrier fabric and then sterilized and stored for subsequent use. Such fabric is typically cut into predetermined rectangular shapes and sold as sterilization wraps.
Traditional wrapping of a sterilization tray or similar articles in a conventional disposable sterilization wrap often involves a large amount of redundant material as excess corners and overlapping plies are gathered, folded, and secured together at the top of the sterilization tray.
Conventional disposable sterilization wrap is a flat, featureless sheet of material that may occasionally contain one or more additional layers of material for strength or absorbency. This flat, featureless configuration provides no information or guidance to a person wrapping an article with the flat sheet of material on how to wrap an article.
Conventional disposable sterilization wrap is frequently made of inexpensive, relatively impermeable material such as, for example, paper and the like. The properties of these materials have generally influenced folding techniques and wrapping configurations to ensure the sterility of the wrapped tray or article.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,635,134 to Bourne, et al. discloses a multi-ply sterilization wrap which is formed by joining one or more sheets of sterilization wrap (e.g., two separate sheets or one sheet folded over) together to form two similarly sized, superposed panels that allow convenient dual wrapping of an article. As another example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2001/0036519 by Robert T. Bayer discloses a two ply sterilization wrap that is formed of a single sheet of sterilization wrap material which is folded to form two similarly sized, superposed panels that are bonded to each other. As yet another example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0163654 by Stecklein, et al. discloses a sterilization wrap material that has a first main panel and a second panel that is smaller than the main panel. The second panel is superposed and bonded to the central portion of the main panel such that it is contained entirely within the main panel to reinforce the main panel and/or provide additional absorbency.
Generally speaking, in these and other examples, articles or content to be sterilized, e.g. trays with surgical instruments and/or supplies, singular instruments, absorbents, basins, etc., are centered on large sheets of conventional disposable sterilization wrap and the uncovered portions of the sterilization wrap are folded around the articles to create large expanses of overlapping materials using one or two standard fold techniques. These conventional techniques and the resulting fold configurations require manipulating excess amount of materials during the wrapping and unwrapping process. Additionally the use of these fold techniques provide for touch points or grip locations of the sterilization wrap material for subsequent unfolding. It takes experience and a certain level of skill to wrap a tray or similar article quickly and reliably. Because of scheduling and cost pressures, medical equipment needed for some procedures may require immediate turnaround and must be processed, sterilized and available for use within hours of its use in a previous procedure. As turnaround times continue to compress, there is a corresponding increase in the need to wrap an article even more quickly while ensuring the integrity of the fold configuration of the sterilization wrap (the wrapping) around the sterilized article. There is also a corresponding increase in the need to quickly unwrap a sterilized article while preserving the sterility of the sterilized article.
Large sheets of conventional disposable sterilization wrap in combination with standard fold techniques do provide an advantage during unwrapping of an item after sterilization, particularly when the sterilization wrap is formed from a material that may stiffen or take a set during the sterilization process. For example, when sterilization wrap composed of nonwoven material made from certain thermoplastic polymers are used in an extended or enhanced steam or heat sterilization process, the nonwoven material may take on a set or an “imprint” of the shape of the wrapped article or tray. During unwrapping of the article or tray, imprinted creases, folds or other deformations must be overcome during unfolding so the sterilization wrap can lay flat. If the sterilization wrap does not lie flat, it is possible for unfolded portions of the sterilization wrap to fold back up towards the sterilized article or tray while other portions of the wrap are being unfolded. This would compromise the sterility of the article. The large expanses of material and the rectangular shape of the sheets in combination with standard folding techniques generally keep the sterilization wrap from folding back onto itself during unwrapping. However, the use of large sheets of conventional disposable sterilization wrap with standard fold techniques provides large expanses of overlapping materials and multiple folds which require using and manipulating excessive amounts of material during the wrapping and unwrapping process, adding difficulty that slows the wrapping and unwrapping process, and creating waste.
When large sheets of conventional sterilization wrap are reduced in size, the reduction in material amplifies the problem of unfolded portions of the sterilization wrap folding back up towards the sterilized article or tray while other portions of the wrap are being unfolded. Moreover, this problem can also be amplified by altering the geometry of the sheet of sterilization wrap so the sheet is less square (e.g., in order to reduce the amount of material in the sheet).
Regardless of the size of conventional sterilization wrap, during unwrapping the sterilization wrap material must be grasped to unfold the overlapping expanses.
Accordingly, there is an unmet need for an easy to use assembly, package or system that reduces the amount of sterilization wrap material needed for the sterile processing of an instrument tray or article and eliminates the need to grasp the sterilization wrap material to unfold wrap. There is also an unmet need for an easy to use assembly, package or system that reduces the amount of sterilization fabric and simplifies the task of unwrapping a sterilized instrument tray or article while reducing or avoiding the likelihood that the sterilization fabric will fold back onto itself during unwrapping. The need is particularly apparent for an assembly, package or system that reduces the amount of sterilization fabric, that can be used in an extended or enhanced steam or heat sterilization process, and that simplifies the task of unwrapping a sterilized instrument tray or article while reducing or avoiding the likelihood that the sterilization fabric will fold back onto itself during unwrapping.